What is a Sound Walk?
A video letter about paying attention to the city going about its day.
Earlier this week I took my field recorder to Demachiyanagi Shōtengai. It’s a covered shopping street in the north of Kyoto that most tourists walk straight past on their way to somewhere else. Which, as it turns out, is exactly what makes it worth stopping in.
This week’s video is my attempt to answer the question I get asked often (usually just before a walk starts!) when someone is holding the recorder for the first time and looking slightly uncertain: “What actually is a sound walk?”
I’ve been trying to answer it properly for a while now. I think this is the closest I’ve gotten. I won’t say much more than that. The video does the explaining better than I can in writing.
And if you think someone else might like this — a friend who travels, someone who’s curious about Kyoto, anyone who’s ever felt like they were moving through a place a little too quickly — sharing it genuinely helps the project along. More than you might think.
Thank you for listening.
SJF
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